Time Lord Tales
by gilmattie
Summary: Mattie is a Time Lord a bit younger than the Doctor. Gil, a Type 50 spaceship with a hologram. The set up is innocent enough, but of course these dorks can get themselves into trouble regardless of where they start... Series of one shots set in the Doctor Who universe—Doctor Who characters not included. Except, maybe, Jack Harkness.
1. Introduction

**(Hello, story readers, followers and newbies... all of whom have been _suspiciously_ quiet in the last week... You guys okay? I hope you are. I really do. Anyway, Gil and I will be on hiatus for the rest of July, meaning we will not be writing any new stories  until August 2nd**— **but lucky you, we do have this mess of an AU to feed you instead! So, if you don't like Doctor Who, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Please wait until the end of the month for new material on our other stories. And if you do like Doctor Who? Fantastic! You'll be getting one "long" oneshot and a few short ones. Thank you for being patient with us!)**

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An introduction:

So let me explain... No, there is to much. Let me sum up.

Mattie is from a upper-middle class family on Gallifrey. He is not an only child; he has an older sibling who also went to the Academy [where the Doctor went to school. Gallifreyans who go there become Time Lords, or Time Ladies, or Time Persons of Mysterious and Indistinct Gender]. His family could afford to send both of them but did not plan for extra expenses. Mattie's sibling gets slightly better grades and is more highly praised by the family. They take and pass their TARDIS test on the first try, gather a crew and go out to do research with no problems or hitches.

Mattie, on the other hand, gets caught in the crowd of Gallifreyans trying to get their TARDIS licences after the Doctor steals his TARDIS. Not only is there more security on Gallifrey, but there are also more requirements for drivers and a _large_ fee to own and fly a TARDIS. Mattie passes his test but does not have the money to pay the fee—his parents cannot help him—so he has to wait, get a job until he can collect the money he needs [this time is about 30-50 Gallifreyan years, which respectively, given their lifespans and all, really isn't that long.]. By the end of those years, he still doesn't have the fee and is tired of waiting, especially because everyone else his age and younger _does_ have money and already have their ships. He goes to whatever the Gallifreyan equivalent of the DMV/DVLA/wherever you go to get your driver's licence is and tries to work out a deal…

The TARDIS that the Doctor stole was a Type 40. Mattie's generation was supposed to get Type 50s, though by the time Mattie actually gets his licence, the Type 55 is already out. However—this is where things get interesting.

There's one Type 50 left; it's a stubborn thing that nobody so far can manage, but it hasn't been enough years for the Gallifreyan-DMV to throw it out. Besides, since the ships are alive, throwing one away would essentially be killing it... [that's a hot topic on Gallifrey. Almost equivalent to abortion, or... no-kill shelters]. The Gallifreyan-DMV isn't sure what to do. So when, Mattie shows up, trying to make a compromise, they make a deal with him. If he can fly this TARDIS, he can have it. He's already taken his test, so he's obviously qualified, and if he succeeds, they won't have to deal with this damn ship anymore. If he fails, they'll just tell him to go make the money to pay the fee and eventually throw the ship out if they can.

And if Mattie manages to control the ship enough to dematerialise it, but loses control and dies soon after that? At least the DMV no longer have to handle the delinquent Type 50.

It's true that this Type 50 is particularly obnoxious and difficult, but also, every pilot that has tried to fly it so far hasn't treated it like a person… TARDISes aren't built, they're grown. They're alive, and they have personalities just like people do. This is emphasised in the Type 50s especially, since those are more advanced than the Type 40s—50s have the option of creating a hologram to represent the TARDIS itself. Nobody has seen this TARDIS' hologram though, and it seems to make trouble for everyone who tries to control it.

But by this time Mattie is lonely; all his friends are travelling and learning without him, and he doesn't really have anyone to talk to. He also tends to talk to himself when he's nervous, so when he tries to fly the Type 50 he speaks aloud, both to himself and to the ship, who appreciates this. A lot. Mattie manages to land on a nearby moon, he celebrates and thanks the ship, and proceeds to explore the rooms a little and "get to know" the layout of _his_ new ship.

He hasn't seen the hologram, and in the next few months of experimentation he'll begin to doubt that that function works. Soon…

So he spends the next month or two just travelling; materialising and dematerialising, testing the limits of his ship and finding out what he can and can't, should and shouldn't do. He still talks to the ship, but it's a one-sided conversation. He doesn't have a name for the ship, like how the Doctor calls his the TARDIS. Right now, it's just "his ship", or, as the Gallifreyan-DMV called it, "that one Type 50".

There's this one lever that affects radiation in the lower levels of the ship. Mattie either misread or misremembered something in the manual about it [though he can quote parts of that thing] because whenever he takes off he sets it wrong. He's actually allowing small amounts of radiation to collect in the mechanics inside the console, which is both irritating and will be eventually harmful to the ship itself. When the ship eventually gets fed up…

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 **(Stay with us to learn more about this AU as we show you the oneshots! They're kinda old and not perfect, but I'm glad to share them with you. And we're always open to feedback, of course! We don't own Hetalia or the Whoniverse, even if Gil wishes we did. Thanks!)**


	2. A Prussian Ship: Part I

**(Hi... Here we begin... Well, one thing first. I marked this as a crossover, but it's technically not, since none of the Doctor Who characters are here... Anyway: _this_ first story is a two-chapter thingy about how Gilbert 'became' Prussian in the first place. I'm not gonna say this is my favourite work because it isn't, but the AU is kinda nice. I hope you like it! Review any feedback you'd like to give!)**

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Mattie unlocked the doors to his Type 50 pretty early after he awoke. He knew he could just sleep inside the ship—there were bedrooms around here somewhere, he'd run into them before—but he thought it was good to keep a strong, internal sense of Gallifreyan time. Things could become pretty senseless in a time machine.

"Good morning," he said aloud, out of habit. He checked around the console, all of the settings seemed fine. "Today, let's go long distance. Maybe… set the coordinates for a few galaxies over…!"

He was getting a lot better at flying the ship by himself. Technically, a Type 50 needed five pilots to fly, plus the hologram to instruct and fix little things the others might forget. Since Mattie was the only pilot of his ship, he had to do everything himself. He hadn't even met the hologram—actually, he was beginning to think perhaps the hologram didn't work. It was a shame; he might have liked the company.

He plugged in the coordinates and hit the main lever to put things into motion. The floor lurched and he held on so he wouldn't fall; laughing a bit, he ran over to the other side of the console. He flipped the radiation switch up, put on the stabilisers (though they never seemed to help), took a glance at the viewscreen. Things seemed good…! He went to make sure the shields were still on, on the left side of the console—when he got back to the radiation switch he flipped it up—wait. Hadn't he already done that? Oh well. Mattie flipped the switch back up and kept on going. He should be soaring right through the spacetime vortex about now—

A harsh mechanical noise cut through the air. Mattie jumped; it wasn't supposed to do that. He looked over toward the source of the noise and fell over when he did.

"What? Who are you?!"

Someone was in his ship. Someone, who could have been there who knows how long! How did they get in, anyway?

"Great job on the security, eh?! Tighten up, will you?" he yelled to the ship. The visitor smirked.

Mattie tried to get up, but he was cut off.

"No. Don't touch that lever." He watched as the visitor quickly took control of his ship, much more gracefully, he grudgingly admitted, than he would have himself. Soon the floor was level and the only noises were the background hum of the Type 50 and Mattie's own slightly erratic breathing. And, the sound of the ship's locks as all the doors closed, leaving him alone and contained in the console room with the stranger.

"That—that isn't what I meant about the security!"

The ship didn't answer, as it never did. Mattie sighed. "Who are you?" he asked again. He was trying to act in charge, even though he was on the floor, but it didn't seem to be working. The visitor took one look at him and just shook his head. "The radiation lever needs to be set down, not up," he said. His voice was deeper than Mattie's, and he seemed strangely confident in his proclamation, though Mattie knew _he_ was right.

"Um, no," Mattie argued, sitting up a little straighter against the console, "it goes up. Up indicates that the interior circulation vents are on and that the nuclear fission from the Eye of Harmony is contained—"

"No. that's what you _think_ it means."

"How do you know I'm wrong?" Mattie once again attempted to stand, but the stranger was getting pretty close and he honestly wasn't sure how to handle it. He opted for scooting back, leaning against the console supports now.

"I _know_ because I'm the ship," the stranger says, smirking down at me.

What? Was _this_ really the hologram? If he was, why had he never shown himself before?

"Prove it," Mattie demanded, sounding more confident than he was, trying to move away as the "ship" continued advancing toward him.

"How do you think I was able to land us so easily?"

"You could be a Time Lord." Mattie pushed himself backward as far as he could, until he ran into the supports; his head bumped underneath the console and his hand brushed against the base.

"Ow!" Mattie exclaimed as the base shocked him. He looked back to the stranger, who was biting his lip, his face fully red.

"D-don't do that again."

 _What?_ Had the shock affected _him_ in some way? Maybe he could gain an advantage and ask the man what he was doing in there…

"Do what?" Mattie asked innocently, gingerly running his fingers along the surface of the metal. The man gulped and Mattie smiled. He knew he was easily in danger of getting shocked again, but he had no other upper hand against the "ship" at this point. Said "ship" was becoming increasingly red and fidgety. "So you're the Type 50, eh?"

"Y-yes _,_ " the man stuttered out after an awkward pause.

"And _why_ is this the first time you're talking to me…?"

"..."

Mattie intentionally poked the base; when the man slightly cried out Mattie became concerned that he may actually be hurting him. He almost apologised, before remembering that he was supposed to be tough and in charge.

"Stop. Please." the stranger answered.

"Then tell me why you are talking to me now...!"

The man looked down, as if to collect his thoughts. "Because, you're more awesome than anyone else who's tried to fly me." He suddenly backed away and ran to a room on the side, entering and quickly locking himself in.

"Hey, wait!" Mattie called out, "Come back, I'm sorry!" With no one restricting him now, Mattie got up and followed the apparent ship to the room he'd run to.

"I didn't mean to upset you..." he said from his side of the door. "And, I still don't know what to call you."

Mattie heard a grumble through the door. After a while of standing in wait the ship inside spoke. "Gilbert."

"Hm?"

"My name. What you can call me."

Mattie smiled. Finally, some progress with this impossible ship. "Hello, Gilbert. I'm Mattie."

More silence. "Gilbert?" Nothing. "Look, I want to talk to you! M-maybe I've been doing other things wrong and I just don't know… I, I need you to help me. Please?"

Mattie waited and waited; slowly, the door opened and he could see the smirk on the hologram's face.

"Desperate, are we~" Gilbert says with a shit-eating grin that would become very familiar to the young Time Lord. He closed the door again before Mattie could say anything.

"—!" _Did he just…_ Mattie could feel his face heating up as he considered, and tried not to consider, the possible context of his ship's statement.

Soon, he heard the door unlock and Mattie entered, looking for Gilbert. It seemed that he had disappeared. "Hello…?"

—

A week on Gallifrey had passed, and Mattie hadn't seen hologram Gilbert again. The whole ship—whom he was beginning to call 'Gilbert' in his head—acted no differently now than it had before. He was starting to consider that the hologram Gilbert might have just been his imagination—but how could he have imagined that _seductive_ voice—?

He needed to stop thinking this way right now.

He hadn't done a lot of time travel so far. At least, he hadn't really had a chance to explore other times, since he had been so busy experimenting and compromising with spaceship Gilbert. Gilbert didn't usually take him where he expected to go, but he'd met some… interesting… people, to say the least.

Now, he debated where and when he was going to try to go to today. Technically the debate was with himself, but he thought he could tell when Gilbert liked the idea of something and when he didn't. Mattie had thrown out a few suggestions already, and all he had gotten in response was dull background mechanics and the occasional clank. The hologram had not appeared. He hoped, at least, that he was really communicating with the ship and not just making it all up...

"How about Earth? The people there look like Gallifreyans, apparently…"

This time, he thought he heard a happy hum from the ship. He wasn't sure why Gilbert was so pleased, but he decided to go along. It wasn't like he'd actually end up where he intended.

"Earth it is, then," Mattie smiled and started Gilbert up. Once again he found himself running around the console, adjusting settings, trying not to fall—he made sure to switch the radiation _down_ this time—"Good to see you remembered!" Gilbert appeared behind Mattie, scaring him again.

"You—you're real!"

A laugh escaped Gilbert and the suddenly whole ship was vibrating with his laughter.

"You thought I wasn't real?" Mattie blushed upon hearing that voice directed at him again and remembering his earlier conclusion about it.

"I-it's just, you weren't around for so long…—let's just get going," Mattie quickly changed the subject. Gilbert laughed again. Mattie ignored the heat rising in his cheeks and focused on going around the console, flipping switches again. Gilbert helped somewhat with the things Mattie forget.

The sound of the ship working was a wonderful sound that Mattie had never given proper attention to. The turning of gears with a sound 'kesesese' laughing in between. He couldn't help but feel happy, even though he had little idea what he was doing or where they were going to end up.

As the ship landed and the whirring died down, Mattie checked the viewscreen for statistics on where they were in time and space. However, it seemed Gilbert had hidden them from him… "Where are we?" he resorted to asking.

"Planet Earth. Country of Prussia. Circa 1740."

"Alright." Mattie stepped out of the ship, quickly finding glitter being thrown into his face. _Glitter?_

"Wait!" Mattie turned around, blinking the unexpected glitter out of his face. Gilbert was standing in the doorway, looking at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I want to come with you."

"Well, come on, then."

"I can't. The hologram doesn't work outside of me… hold on. I can transfer a percentage of my energy into a projection vessel, so you can project the hologram anywhere…" Mattie was surprised that his ship was talking so much. He simply nodded and came back inside.

After a moment of concentration: "It's on the console," Gilbert said, somewhat unnecessarily. Mattie saw, on one of the panels, an intricate pendant hanging from a thin chain. Its round face was made of gears; small metal bits hung down, each, he'd find out, would adjust a different hologram setting. The whole thing was perfectly Gallifreyan and perfectly Mattie… carefully, he put it on, rubbing his fingers over the delicate-seeming pendant. It was stronger than it looked. Gilbert faded out before coming back a bit more solidly, this time from the pendant.

"How does it work?" Mattie asked, walking out of the ship again, but with Gilbert this time.

Gilbert, the ship, locked the doors behind them and Gilbert the hologram turned to face Mattie. "I'm powered by the Eye of Harmony. Most of it is within the deepest depths of me—" he winked, "but I'm able to transfer some of the nuclear reaction into other vessels, as a safety mechanism. A bit of me is in the pendant now and is controlled by your life line, since it's _your_ imprint on my nebulisers. Normally I'd have to share with all the pilots, but I have you all to myself~" Mattie chose this time to look away, so he wouldn't have to face that cocky grin, "You can fade me in and out by the thought of me. And now I can leave. Same as the ship, most won't notice me."

It was true that they were linked; all Time Lords and Ladies had connections with their ships. However, as a single pilot and vessel, neither Mattie nor Gilbert quite realised the strength of their relationship yet…

—

Gilbert was getting tired of this country. It was dull, boring, and lifeless. Maybe he should have just stayed inside for the time being. He was currently entertaining himself by switching the appearance of some of his features when people passed. He was sure that he was annoying Mattie.

"Can you not?" Mattie asked, after Gilbert's nose became ridiculously long and thin as they walked by an old woman. Gilbert smirked.

"Vhy, is it bothering you?" Gilbert said in a mock Prussian accent. _That voice…_ Mattie tried to focus on scolding his ship; he rolled his eyes and turned to face him. "You know, someone is eventually going to notice…"

"Nein~" Gilbert insisted, continuing his accent, "nein, sey won't. Both of us are practically invisible anyway."

"I'm not invisible!"

"Kesesesesesese, keep telling yourself sat," Gilbert smirked again, now changing his hair to match Mattie's. The Time Lord frowned, both at the imitation and the claim. He wasn't invisible, was he? Though the Academy had endlessly emphasised "exploration without interference", Mattie liked to think that when he did have an effect, it was a positive one. But maybe Gilbert was right… if nobody saw him anyway...

"Hey, Mattie, you alright?" Gilbert stopped in front of Mattie, purposely making eye contact. "Why don't you smile?" Gilbert dropped his Prussian accent in favour of seriousness. _He really cares…_ Mattie allowed himself to be comforted. He put on a slightly empty happy face and said, "Come on, Gilbert! Let's look around some more!" Without another word, the hologram ran ahead. Laughing.

"Vhat could be interesting here?" Gilbert began running backwards, simply because he could.

"Wait—"Mattie tried to warn the hologram as he reached the crowded part of the city.

"Kesesesesesesesesesese~" Gilbert yelled out, jumping into the crowd.

"...!" Mattie wanted to go after him, but an irritated official was looking, now blocking his way. "Mister. You aren't allowed to go sere. Se King is—"

Mattie, impatient, cut him off. "My ship is in there!"

The officer simply stared at him, and Mattie realized what he said must have sounded completely absurd. _Mustn't mess up timelines… get your story straight..._

"I-I mean, one of my friends is lost in the crowd."

"Vell, sir, you'll have to vait until se coronation is over…"

Mattie looked over the man's shoulder into the crowd, searching for Gilbert. He—he doubted anything could really happen to him, though if he did get noticed…

 _Oh, Gilbert…_

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 **(Eh, now... be kind to us. This is an old story and it's not edited as much as I'd like, but here we are. It's the AU that counts. This story will be continued and finished in four days, followed by a series of oneshots/drabbles [what's the word-count difference for that?] until the end of July. Thanks again!)**


	3. A Prussian Ship: Part II

**(And so we continue with the Time Lord Tales! This chapter will wrap up our "long story" for the AU, but is by no means the end. Um... yeah! We like reviews, even though this is kinda old and... kinda messy. Thank you for waiting, always.)**

 **(And none of this stuff is ours, of course! Yet here we are. Enjoy.)**

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"Oi! You!"

Gilbert stopped laughing and screwing off and turned around to face one of the King's men.

"Yes?" he asked, casually looking for his Time Lord. When he couldn't see him he looked back to the guard, deciding to actually listen to what he was saying.

"—law stated sat trespassers aren't allowed vhen se King or nobles are passing through. By disobeying se law you vill have to come vith us."

Gilbert yawned. "Lead the way," he said lazily. The guard did not look pleased with this response. He meant to grab hold of Gilbert, to punish him a little and force him to cooperate, but as a hologram Gilbert was thoroughly unaffected by the guard's gestures. His hands went straight through Gilbert's body with only a slight glitch, which had the hologram laughing once again and the guard shouting about witchcraft and backup. Soon there were other guards surrounding him, and townspeople surrounding them to see what the commotion was about. As he 'kesese'd at the chaos he'd caused, he remembered Mattie's deal about not interfering with history… oops...

He was brought, rather unceremoniously, to the lesser seen parts of the castle. No one was exactly sure how to deal with him, though there was a great deal of scorn and shade thrown his way. The guards dumped him in a prison cell and stood, scared, by the barred door. Apparently a priest was already on the way.

Since he was, after all, a hologram, he technically could have "escaped" any time he saw fit. But he still had little idea where Mattie was, and thought it would be pretty unawesome to worry him any more than he already (accidentally) had. He hadn't gone over the specifics of the pendant with Mattie, but the Time Lord was a smart kid who'd probably be able to discover the holo-tracking feature on his own. In the meantime, all _he_ could do was wait for that stupid priest.

He hoped that Mattie got here first.

—

 _Is this what humans thought would "expel" a demon? Water? What type of mindset was that?_

"Kesesese, sat von't help!" Gilbert says, embracing the Prussian accent, as a pool of water started to form around him.

"Why aren't you being exorcised, demon!" the priest screeched. Gilbert smirked.

"I'm not even from this planet. Hell, I'm a time-travelling spaceship!" He announced, not caring about screwing up the timeline of the world. Not that the priest would understand what he was really saying anyway.

"Lord have mercy on this poor soul, and may Go-" the priest was cut off by the opening of a door.

"Vhat is happening here!" A booming voice sounded. Gilbert looked at the man who entered the dungeon. The priest looked surprised at the intruder.

"My King, vhat are you doing here?" The priest rapidly asked, sounding apologetic.

King? Was that what was going on?

"I heard se commotion und I came to check it out."

"Ve found a demon," the priest explained, pointing and glaring at Gilbert.

"I'm NOT a demon! I'm a TT capsule! A spaceship!" the hologram insisted. The priest shook his head. "See vhat I said. A demon."

"Leave. I'll take care of this." The King ordered.

"But your Highness—"

"Leave."

"Yes, sir." The priest reluctantly backed off, giving one last disdainful look at Gilbert before leaving him and the king alone.

"Vhat are you?"

"I'm a hologram from a time and relative dimensional space capsule." Gilbert replied.

"I did not understand a vord you said. Come out, so I can talk to you."

Gilbert phased through the bars. "Yes?"

"I am King Frederick of Prussia. Who are you?"

"You may call me Gilbert."

—

Mattie did not know where his ship was. Although thankfully the physical ship itself had not moved since they landed, he had no idea where his hologram had ended up. After jumping into the crowd he had seemingly been swept away... Mattie figured that there was some way to shut down Gilbert's hologram form completely, but he didn't want to cause any waves by vanishing him if he was in the middle of a conversation or something. That was sure to go over well with the authorities.

He wandered the streets, trying to sense his ship, but nothing was coming to him. How on Gallifrey was he going to find him? Maybe he shouldn't have let him come out. He was probably bored out of his mind anyway, surrounded by all this old tech—

"You heard about the ghost, ja?"

"Ja! A demon, wandering the streets among us! The King's men barely captured him…"

"The Royal Priest is going to try to save the man…"

"But nobody can touch him! He does not abide by our godly laws, or the laws of this earth…"

—or maybe, his hologram was just causing as much trouble as he could. Mattie sighed; if he got in trouble with the Time Lord Council for this, nobody was going to be happy.

 _The royal priest…_ he must be in the castle then.

Mattie sped off toward the castle, hoping Gilbert hadn't messed things up too badly yet. He saw more of the King's guards at the door, the same ones who had separated him from the hologram in the first place. Well… time to test out Gilbert's claim about invisibility.

Carefully, he snuck around to the back of the castle, where the servants' doors stood unguarded and ignored. With one last glance and a sigh of mental preparation, he entered the palace of the Prussian King.

One step closer, but he still didn't know where to go. His pendant, he thought, was helping. After stopping and playing with it a bit it had begun vibrating, slowly at first and speeding up as he'd approached the castle. It gave him something to follow and focus on, too… he really needed to thank Gilbert for it. As soon as he found and scolded the damn hologram, of course.

The servants' wards seemed to be near the place where his ship was. As he neared the place where Gilbert seemed to be the necklace was vibrating without rest. He opened the door to a long set of stairs down to a dungeon. _Oh…_

He hated to think of anyone down here, but they couldn't really do anything to Gilbert, right? He stood, concealed at the top of the stairs, worried of what he might find. Voices echoed from the depths of the dungeon that he could just make out.

"How about albino? One of the bravest soldiers I knew, died in battle, was albino."

"Kesesesesese~" Mattie recognised the laugh. "Like sis? Are you sure? Sey might sink I'm more of a demon like sis."

"Do you care?"

"Nein."

"Hello?" Mattie called out. He came down the stairs and—for the second time—almost fell when he saw Gilbert. His appearance had changed, much more so than when he was screwing off earlier. He was pale now, his hair bright white, and his eyes, when he turned and grinned at Mattie—shockingly crimson. He heard Gilbert laughing and was relieved that his voice was still the same, just now it was matched up with that angular face and tight physique—

"Gilbert?! Wh—" He wasn't even sure what to ask first. "D-don't run off like that! I didn't know where you'd gone!"

"Is sis your Time Lord?"

"Ja!"

"Hallo, Matthew. Me und your space ship were having a little fun~"

Mattie blushed more, especially considering how good Gilbert looked now. Good thing he didn't have a physical form… that could have really messed things up. Rumours that the king was gay certainly wouldn't have helped his reign, Mattie was sure...

"S-so… what happened?" he asked.

"Ve vere just talking~" The king smirks.

"Come sit down, Mattie~"

"I-I think we should go..." Gilbert's and the King's identical tones of voice were kind of freaking him out. Was this what Gilbert was going to be like now? _All_ the time?

"Mattie?" Gilbert asks standing up and walking towards the frozen Time Lord.

"M-mhmm?" Mattie stutters out still processing how the young King was knew that he was a Time Lord. Did Gilbert tell him? ...Didn't he know that things like that can have huge unintended effects?

"Fritz vants for us to join him for dinner. I of course don't need se food (because I'm awesome) but you, Mattie, might vant some." Gilbert smirked.

"Fritz" also stood up and walked over.

"It vould be a pleasure to have someone to dine vith me. Se officials can be so boring."

"…" As much as Mattie's Academy instinct was telling him that this was a bad idea, he didn't really _want_ to completely leave just yet. Besides… Gilbert, the impossible ship, was actually getting along with someone else. That seemed significant. "Alright," Mattie said.

—

"Don't you think this is pushing it a little, Gilbert?"

"Kesesesese~ nein!"

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that…"

They were on their way back to the ship, after bidding Fritz goodnight but not goodbye after dinner. The hologram had really taken to the Prussian King, and hadn't wanted to leave at all—until he'd suddenly thought of an "awesome idea" and had begun dragging Mattie back to the ship.

"Don't vorry, Mattie. Fritz von't tell anyvone. It's just a little trip."

"But the Academy—"  
"—is not in charge of you anymore, und sey didn't care about you vhen sey vere," Gilbert said flatly. Mattie frowned; he knew his ship had a grudge against the authorities of Gallifrey, but that seemed a little harsh. Though, the Time Lord officials had been sticklers for rules, and Gilbert… not so much.

"It vill be _fine_ ," the hologram insisted.

 _I hope he's right…_

"What did you two actually talk about, anyway?" he asked aloud. Gilbert snickered.

"Vas, you jealous?"

Mattie flushed. "No! I was just wondering…! You haven't really gotten along with anyone else…"

This was true. Not only had Gilbert resisted every other Time Lord who tried to fly him on Gallifrey, he also hadn't let anybody from any other planet into the ship either. Mattie had fussed at him for that a few times before hologram Gilbert had appeared, but since he hadn't been certain that the ship could really hear him, he hadn't reprimanded him too much.

"Vell. Fritz is awesome," Gilbert stated. Mattie suspected he wasn't going to give a much more in-depth explanation. "Alright, I'm trusting you on this," he replied.

"Mattie, I've been trusting you since I first dematerialised." Gilbert smiled for real; it was so different from that stupid smirk he was usually sporting. Mattie blushed and walked a little faster, eventually arriving at the physical ship. "Yeah, you're right," he said. He pulled his key out of his pocket to unlock the doors, but quickly recoiled when the door handle sent a zap of electricity through his hand. "Ow!"

The hologram's smirk was back. "but you know... if you vant in, you could just ask~"

Mattie felt his blush deepening; thankfully, the doors opened and he could ignore the probably-intentionally-lewd remarks of his ship. That was the thing, with Gilbert—every remark he made _could_ be interpreted innocently enough… Mattie just doubted he meant it the clean way.

The Time Lord went straight to the console and began adjusting some of the many settings: space travel to _short range_ , time of landing to _location linear_. He'd hate to accidentally arrive back at the castle this morning, before they'd met Fritz at all, or a few days or even months from now. As a single newbie pilot, he and Gilbert weren't very precise yet. Mattie knew they could easily make mistakes that way and definitely didn't want to cause trouble on something so minor as a party trick. Or, as Gilbert had called it, "just a little trip".

"Ready?"

"Ready if you are~"

The ship launched into motion and, with both parties thinking of and planning for the same destination, the ride was shorter than Mattie expected. He was almost saddened when the wonderful whirring cut off prematurely, but he saw Gilbert's excitement about what they were going to do for Fritz and grinned himself. "Come on," he said, leaving the console for the door, "and lock up, please?"

Gilbert winked. "As you wish," he replied, sauntering out and yelling "Oi! Fritz!"

The King appeared on cue, looking only mildly surprised to find both Gilbert the hologram and Gilbert the ship (currently disguised as a tapestry) and Mattie in his personal quarters. "Sat didn't take long. Just couldn't stay away, could you?" Fritz smirked and Mattie found himself blushing again.

"Come on, Fritz, quicky! Let's gooo!" Gilbert took the King's hand and dragged him behind the tapestry, inside the ship.

It took Fritz a second to realise what had happened. Gilbert watched, amused but reverent, as the King glanced back out and ran his fingers along the other side of the tapestry, trying to understand. The hologram had already attempted to explain the ship earlier, but he could see how it would be hard to grasp if you were used to your rooms being the same size inside and out. The King continued to look around, and Mattie smiled. Maybe he was a bit intimidating, but… this was like watching a child. He was glad he'd let Gilbert convince him to let the Prussian King come aboard, even as he felt the hologram leave the necklace as he entered the ship.

"Sis is amazing, Gilbert."

"Ja, isn't it awesome?" Gilbert twirled around, showing off.

"Where would to like to go?" Mattie asked both of them.

"Vell~ you don't have to do anysing, Mattie. I have it under control." Gilbert said, eyes sparkling. Mattie stepped back, giving the hologram full control for once. Gilbert ran, danced almost, around the console and the whirring sound filled their ears as they flew.

"Sere! Ve're here!" Gilbert exclaimed, rushing over and throwing open the doors. "Don't step out to far, you might fall!" Gilbert warned goodnaturedly. All of them peered out to see the city below.

The view was breathtaking. With the sun almost setting, all the buildings and villages of Prussia seemed highlighted, and the palace looked magnificent. Mattie turned toward the King, who was practically glowing at seeing his kingdom in this way. As cool as it is for Mattie, he knows that Fritz had probably never dreamed that such a view was even possible.

"Gilbert, sis is awesome. Danke schon," Fritz says, perfectly serious for the first time that Mattie had heard. He was smiling at Gilbert, and the hologram reflected his admiration and thanks in his own digital eyes.

They stayed stationed above the kingdom for longer than the Time Lord intended, but he was in no mood to cut off the visit. As it grew dark he retreated into the depths of the ship to give the hologram and the King some alone time; Fritz pointed out constellations and told the Prussian legends behind them, and Gilbert told him the science of the stars. They talked about other things, too, things Mattie wouldn't know of for years to come. Mostly they just enjoyed each other's company.

Eventually, the two decided it was time to go. Gilbert spun his dials and switched his switches quietly, though the whirring still filled the ship as his face filled with mirth. The Time Lord had still not appeared when they landed, so Fritz simply asked the hologram to thank him when he got the chance. Gilbert nodded.

"Und thank _you_ ," he said, "for showing me sat se vorld is broader san I ever could have anticipated. It vill be a long time before I forget someone like you."

"I hope so~" the hologram replied, winking. Fritz winked back, sporting a smirk not unlike Gilbert's. The hologram grinned. "Ve'll be back," he promised.

"I know."

With that, the whirring began again; Gilbert left the doors open as he dematerialised so he could watch the King's face vanish from sight. Happiness shown on both of their faces long after they were both alone again.

* * *

 **(An important note: Fanfiction CAN BE and often is a legitimate form of fiction. All those people who say, "Oh, you have so much talent, why don't you write real fiction?" [or, more often... "wtf is this trash", but that's another issue]—just don't listen to them. It's nonsense. And, maybe if people _haven't_ said that forst thing to you, but... Well, I usually try to keep all my fanfiction stuff private from my life/my writer friends, almost like I'm ashamed of it. But it's wonderful writing practise, it's awesome for getting better at using characters and expanding your imagination, and—some published authors never stop writing fanfiction. And it's so much fun, and it make you feel things. Do you know how powerful it is to write a thousand or five thousand or however many words, and then have someone send you comments saying it made them cry? Of course you do. You've probably been there. It's so powerful, and authentic, and real. So don't be ashamed, if you're writing art. Just... go forth, and conquer.)**


	4. Gilbert Watches

**(Oneshots! Two oneshots right here, unrelated except in theme, which is: Gil has no physical body and is sad/mildly creepy out of context when he watches Mattie. So cool. We don't have like property rights to this stuff or anything... yeah. Enjoy!)**

* * *

Normal

For a long time, Mattie had no particular style of clothes he preferred to wear. Most of his closet contained Gallifreyan garments, along with a few alien ones they'd picked up on their travels and the occasional piece created by Gilbert himself—which Mattie always pretended not to notice and just shoved back under the other clothes—but since their trip to Victorian London, the young Time Lord had found a fascination with braces (or, as they called them in his favourite country: suspenders) and the like. Even Gilbert had to admit that, though he disliked the multitude of layers in Victorian outfits, Mattie's new style fit him strangely well. In fact, Gilbert didn't just admit it, he embarrassed his pilot about it endlessly. Mattie tended to wonder in between his blushes if Gilbert would ever shut up.

But now, with the Time Lord circling around the console and making notes, the hologram just watched and admired him from one of the higher balconies. As Mattie made calculations, he made expressive faces to go along with them. Gilbert doubted they were conscious (though, Gilbert himself had a small smile playing on his own lips that he did not know about). His Time Lord was a strange one, but he meant the universe to him and he was pretty, too.

Gilbert's thoughts wandered as the man below turned away from him; the ship noted again how his shirt was a little bunched and untucked in the back, beneath the suspenders. Mattie was always tucking it back it, smoothing it out, but it never seemed to last. That wasn't actually Gilbert's fault, but it was something he'd love to be responsible for. AND the suspenders were something he would play with relentlessly if he could. He'd told Mattie so, only to receive, on one occasion, an extremely indignant " _Gilbert!"_ and a small tool thrown at him. He'd laughed when Mattie had to stop his work to go pick it up.

Reluctantly, Gilbert tore his gaze from his companion and looked instead down at his own hands. He could see the metal railing beneath his slightly pixelated, slightly transparent fingertips and sighed. Sure, he could interact with Mattie; he could talk to him, laugh with him, feel the vibrations of his footsteps on the grates and shock him when he was being naughty (rather, when Gilbert wished he _would_ be naughty), but… the other creatures they met could coexist on a whole other level with him. Touch, he thought, was the most powerful sense. Sure, it was childish, but they could touch him and he couldn't. And he wanted to.

Over the months and years they had met a few others with forms similar to Gilbert's. Not quite corporeal, but more than legend. And Gilbert always made sure to share with them a sad smile, one he saw reflected in their faces as well. Mattie didn't know how good he had it, being real, but the hologram was glad he was. His Time Lord damn well deserved it. He'd already been taken advantage of for being too kind, put in danger because he thought he could help someone else, and Gilbert was tired of it, _sick of it,_ especially when Mattie got physically hurt. He couldn't—Gilbert couldn't help with that, and that wasn't fair to either of them.

Sometimes, he just didn't know what to do. He'd looked for solutions in his TT database and elsewhere but everything had a catch, and, he didn't want Mattie to know he'd been researching. Searching, desperately, more like. Gilbert knew the Time Lord would take his worries to heart and he'd start hurting too—if he felt the same way. Otherwise, it could just ruin their relationship, and Gilbert _couldn't_ do that. He wanted no pilot other than Matthew Williams… and he _wanted_ him. And it sucked.

"Gilbert?" Speak of the angels—er, Time Lord. The hologram glanced down to see his blonde looking up at him, a hopeful smile on his face. Gilbert felt himself melt a little internally. Looking into those eyes, he was reminded, _sis is not over; sis is not helpless. He would find a way—Mattie deserved to be happy._ "Ja?" he asked, sticking a lazy grin on his face to cover up the deep, pansy thoughts. The Time Lord blushed marginally, as he usually did to some degree. "Um, will you come down here and look at these energy diagram readings? I think they're wrong…"

"Kesesesesese~! If sey are coming from me sen of course sey're not wrong! But vhatever you say~" In a flash Gilbert was standing right next to Mattie, who was blushing more and looking away, and for the moment everything had returned to normal— at least, as normal as things got in a rogue Type 50 spaceship with only one pilot.

—

Sleep

Gilbert loved to watch Matthew; while he was working on the ship, while he helped others on the planets they visited. But most of all Gilbert loved to watch Matthew sleep.

Gilbert had eventually convinced Mattie to stay inside the ship for nights instead of sleeping in an unknown territory outside. They'd had many back-and-forth discussions about safety and custom... The Time Lord didn't sleep often, anyways. But on the nights he did, now he stayed, Gilbert was grateful for it.

He could watch him sleeping in one of the rooms, and see his chest move up and down as he breathed. Gilbert would 'lie' on the bed next to him and watch him, his mechanic breathing syncing with that of the Time Lord. He would wrap his holographic arm around the Time Lord, but it would go through him if he didn't hold the position. Sometimes the ship would 'fall asleep' there too, his face damp with virtual tears.

* * *

 **(Hint: One of these is by Gil and one of them is by me. Send reviews if you have something to say! We always love hearing from you—sorry again about the hiatus... real life, you know... eugh.)**


	5. Kuma and Elizabetha

**(Because all you ever wanted was a few more Doctor Whotalia oneshots... Well, here they are. Hetalia and Doctor Who aren't ours, and I'm not sure why I still have to say that _obviously_ all the Whovians hate Steven Moffat and not me. And Hetalians... you know I'm not Hima. You all know that.)**

 **(Eyy, though, you could send a review anyway? Can't get better if we don't know what's wrong. Thanks!)**

* * *

In Which Kuma is Like K-9

" _Who_?"

"Seriously?" Gilbert asked, coming up behind Mattie and looking down at their most recent visitor. "Sis is one of se ultra-intelligent lifeforms you vere bragging about? Disappointing."

"Non, he is intelligent!" the Time Lord insisted, gesturing to the small, bearlike creature sitting at their feet. Mattie had been wanting to come to this star system for a while, going on and on about the diversity and advancement of life here (as told to him by the Ancient-Ass Time Prats, Gilbert knew), but so far the hologram had been unimpressed. The plants that could apparently fly on their own really did little more than hover, the technology was slower than a 1990s Earth Mac computer and now—! This _bear thing_ , who supposed to be light years ahead of the life on surrounding systems but instead just spoke in monosyllabic grunts...

" _Who are you?_ "

Okay, short full sentences. Who cared?

"I'm Mattie. This is Gilbert."

" _Who?"_

"Gilbert. My—eh, m-my ship…"

The hologram smirked at Mattie's stumbling. _Vhat_ _had_ _he been going to say?_ he wondered. He grinned slyly at the pilot, who immediately turned his gaze to the bear instead.

"Vhat vas sat, Mattie~?" he asked. Electricity tingled inside him as Time Lord blushed.

"Nothing! I, called you my ship, because you are! I-I just—"

" _Who are you?_ " interrupted the bear.

"Oh, for Gott's sakes!"

—

Rift

Of all the people in time in space, they just _had_ to find her. Gilbert and Mattie had added a... companion, to their travels. Her name was Elizabetha; she was from Earth, she was outspoken and positive and strong, and Gilbert hated her. Despite a friendly competitiveness, the two originally got on rather well; that is, until Elizabetha realised that Gilbert harboured feelings for his Time Lord. She began purposely trying to make Gilbert jealous by touching Mattie, showing off. She played with his hair, or helped him get dressed, even though the Time Lord didn't understand what was going on. Elizabetha knew the effect it had on the ship and did it all anyway. Not to say that Gilbert didn't tease her back, sometimes quite spitefully, about her own Austrian "boyfriend".

"Where are we going today, Mattie?" Elizabetha asked, hugging the pilot from behind. He laughed nervously. Gilbert growled.

"Oh.. well, I didn't have a plan. Sorry, eh?" The Time Lord replied, gently pushing the woman off of him.

"Oh, but sweetie, don't you have any ideas~?" Elizabetha smirked at Gilbert as she started twirling Mattie's hair.

"No—I don't, but if—"

"Stop it!" Gilbert interrupted.

"What's wrong, Gilly~" Elizabetha quirked her eyebrows at the hologram and hugged Mattie close to her chest.

"I said, _aufhören_."

A new level of concern shown across the Time Lord's face. Gilbert only used Prussian when he was feeling especially strong about something, so…

"Eliza, m-maybe you should let me fly…"

"Hmm~ what was that, Gilly?" Elizabetha said, ignoring Mattie. She began pushing some buttons on the control panel, despite the Time Lord's protests.

"Gilbert—we're in the vortex, we shouldn't fight. Eliza, stop. Please!" Mattie momentarily wriggled out of her grasp, attempting to land the ship to no avail.

"Jealous~?" Elizabetha whispered, pulling Mattie even closer, tilting his head up to look at her. Mattie could feel his face heating up against his will.

The ship suddenly jolted and the two broke apart; as the ship screeched and stabilised Gilbert grabbed Mattie without thinking and pulled him up, kissing him on the mouth. Elizabetha stared in shock and fangirliness as the two deepened the kiss. Mattie, suddenly understanding, pulled back flushing.

"Gil, you—you're—"

 _CLANG!_ Elizabetha hit Gilbert on the head with a frying pan that always appeared at the worst of times.

"Ouch! Vhat se hell was sat for!" Gilbert fell, cradling his head in his arms. He'd not realised what had happened yet, and would have unleashed a string of colourful curses on the Hungarian woman were he not cut off by his Time Lord.

"L-let me help you up, Gil," Mattie extended his hand, smiling down at his ship and practically glowing.

"But I'll go through you..." Without another word, Mattie took hold of Gilbert's arm and pulled him up.

"Y-you're solid, eh. Welcome to the real world…!"

"Vhat! How? I landed us on Natura, ve've been here before. Vhat's se difference now?"

Gilbert vanished to the Eye of Harmony and checked everything there.

He noticed some strange, unprecedented energy humming through the ship. Rift energy… Running the calculations as fast as he could, he soon understood it was the new energy that was making him have mass in the ship; it wouldn't work outside. He studied the Eye closer, paying little attention to the black dust that lightly covered the surfaces of the room.

Gilbert quickly appeared back to the console room, breathing hard for the first time. He hugged Mattie again, picking him up and twirling him.

"I can touch you!" Gilbert exclaimed, smiling like a child as his eyes gathered first tears.

"I know, Gil. You can p-put me down." Mattie said as Gilbert lowered him.

Mattie stared at him for a moment before pulling him into another kiss and runs his hand through Gilbert's new hair. It's so new, so strange, and— fading fast. As they pull away, Gilbert becomes more holographic and he smiles at Mattie.

"I—I don't understand," Mattie whispered, looking down at his own hand. Just seconds ago it had been filled with warmth and physicality as he held Gilbert's hand; now only pixels occupied the same space. He frowned at it.

"It's se rifts," the hologram said, "I think. Their energy messes vith se balance of se engine, causes an influx of matter…"

They stared at each other, neither sure what to think. Mattie's face burned red as he replays the kisses in his mind.

"Okay love birds, let's move along please!" Elizabetha piped up, startling them (though Gilbert will never admit it.)

* * *

 **(I had to fix this a bit before I put it up [and I'm still not quite satisfied], because honestly my old version of Mattie was making me cringe. Canada is not weak. He's awesome. He shouldn't be afraid of dumb things any more than anyone else is, and the stuttering? Keep it in check, please. I feel kind of hypocritical saying that on this fic, so hey! Go read our other stories, which are newer, and probably better. Lots of love,  
M)**


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